My two daughters took five or six lessons with Andy Caplin at CAC. My 8 year old had trouble doing exactly what Andy wanted her to do with her strokes. On one occasion, she was getting more and more flustered and withdrawing into herself as she knew he was getting frustrated with her. When Andy asked her if she was even trying, she shrugged her shoulders in response. Andy responded with, "You are a brat and your parents would be ashamed of you." She came to me crying while her sister continued her lesson. After talking quietly with me, she decided to apologize to Andy for not asking for clarification when he was frustrated with her. She often clams up when someone in authority is upset with her, and she is working on it. I assumed that in turn, Andy would apologize for calling her a name. Instead, Andy refused her apology and said he didn't believe that she was sorry! Trying to be impartial and get both sides of the story, I asked Andy what had happened. He denied having called her a brat (despite my older daughter and two other kids having witnessed him doing just that!). He had no explanation except that he felt my daughter just wanted to swim fast and not work on her stroke technique. An adult calling a child names is never acceptable. Even if a child is misbehaving, it is even more important for adults to act maturely and set a good example. Andy may or may not improve swimming skills, but he was not equipped to deal maturely with his own frustration, took it out on an 8 year old, then refused her very brave apology and lied. Honestly, we never went back because it was so clear to my husband and I that being an emotionally healthy person is more important than being a rock star swimmer. (By the way, we have since found a great swim stroke coach in Superior who is strict but kind, and a good role model for life and swimming.) read more

When my son was young we found Andy as a swim teacher. I am so excited to see he is still at it. He is such a genuine, kind, sensitive, wonderful person. I treasure the time he spent teaching my son to swim. He was a great male role model, and an excellent teacher. He gives his students his absolute attention in a calm and compassionate way. My son is now 26, and when I happened onto Andy's name I had to leave a review. I even sent a note to our neighborhood and others responded, "we love Andy!!" My thoughts exactly! read more